Apparatus for cooling gear reduction units



Nov. 21, 1967 P. s. ZAK 3,353,591

APPARATUS FOR COOLING GEAR REDUCTION UNITS Filed Feb. 15, 1965 UnitedStates Patent Ofi ice 3,3535%! Patented Nov. 21, 1967 3,353,591APPARATUS FOR COOLING GEAR REDUCTION UNITS Pavel Samoilovich Zak,Moscow, U.S.S.R., assignor to Tsentralny Nauchno-IssledovatelskyInstitut Teknologii i Mashinostroenia, Moscow, USSR.

Filed Feb. 15, 1965, Ser. No. 432,645 1 Claim. (Cl. 165-47) The presentinvention relates to an apparatus for cooling gear reduction units and,more particularly, it relates to cooling worm reduction units by meansof an exhaust blower. Y

The load capacity of reduction units is well known to be limited as aresult of their being heated.

Various attempts have been made to develop a universal system of coolingby introducing a special arrangement serving to cool the oil circulatingthrough the cooling system or being cooled directly in the reductionunit by means of a coil pipe and the coolant circulating therethrough.These devices are however too bulky and, there fore, do not find wideapplication nowadays.

I am aware that there have been proposed other devices for air coolingof reduction units such as forced cooling by means of a blower whichdrives the air along ribs installed parallel to the worm axis or throughthe inner passage ways also parallel to said worm axis, orupwards alongthe vertical ribs covered by a deflector; and also cooling by means ofan exhaust blower which directs the airflow through the inner passageways parallel to the worm axis.

All the previous designs are deficient in that they employ horizontal(i.e., along the worm axis) arrangement of the ribs or inner passageways thus leaving no hopes for any standardization of the reduction unithousing, as performed without the blower, because the horizontalarrangement of the ribs in the reduction units having no blower turnedout to be less efficient. Another disadvantage of the existing designsis that to force air they employ a blower, as air consumption here islimited owing to the additional losses at the blower inlet (when saidblower is mounted on the driven end of the worm) and moreover, the airdelivered into the reduction unit to cool the latter becomes heated to acertain extent in the blower, and thus, adversely affects the coolingefficiency.

Up till now all the known devices used heretofore possess necessarilyone of the above-mentioned disadvantages if not both.

The apparatus proposed herein is based on a combination of an exhaustblower and vertically (i.e., perpendicular to the blower axis) arrangedribs provided on the reduction unit housing.

The invention is principally intended for cooling gear reduction unitsand like mechanisms and, particularly, it is adapted for cooling wormreduction units.

One object of the invention is to obtain a highly eifective cooling ofreduction units, and thus, increase their load capacity.

Another object of the invention is to standardize the existing reductionunit housings, as applied to both possible performances of the reductionunit housings either with a blower or without it.

In accordance with these and other objects, the invention comprises anew apparatus, described hereinafter and specified in the appendedclaim.

The advantages of the invention will become apparent from theaccompanying drawing which is an axonometric projection (bottom view) ofa worm reduction unit.

Mounted onto the worm shaft is exhaust blower 1 receiving air from underthe bottom of housing 2, said air first passing along ribs 3 verticallyarranged on the reduction unit housing. The direction of air flow isindicated by arrows 4. The air circulates in the space defined at thehousing sides by deflector 5, and at the side of the housing bottom, bya foundation plate (not shown in the drawing).

The present invention ensures an increase in the load capacity of thereduction unit, due to the improved efficiency of its cooling saideificiency being attained by directing the air flow along vertical ribsdisposed normally to the worm axis and throughout the surface of thehousing, and also by using an exhaust blower, the latter ensuringcooling of the reduction unit by the air not heated as it is passe-dthrough the blower.

The invention gives an opportunity to standardize the reduction unithousing, the latter being performed in two possible versions (eitherwith a blower or without it) due to the vertical arrangement of theribs, said ribs directing the fiow of the cooling air.

The invention is described in connection with its preferred embodimentbut it will be apparent that various modifications and changes of theinvention may be effected by those skilled in the art without departingfrom the true spirit and scope of the invention.

These modifications are considered as falling within the essence andscope of the invention as described in the claim.

What is claimed is:

In an air cooled gear reduction unit the combination of a housing, adrive shaft mounted relative to the housing and carrying a driving gearthereon, a driven shaft mounted within the housing at right angles tothe drive shaft and having a cooperative gear thereon, said housinghaving a bottom, a chamber beneath said cooperating gears, verticalcooling ribs extending in parallel spaced relation, a suction blowermounted on the driven shaft exteriorly of the housing, said housingincluding deflector components, said ribs providing communication to thespace beneath said cooperating gear units, said space constituting achamber extending parallel to the axis of the driven shaft and beneaththe same, the arrangement being such that air is drawn into the housingto flow over said ribs to be directed thereby to said chamber beneathsaid cooperating gear units and is then constrained to flow parallel tothe axis of the driven shaft for exhaust to atmosphere through saidsuction blower.

ROBERT A. OLEARY, Primary Examiner. CHARLES SUKALO, Examiner.

